Attack ads muddy Oakland County Circuit Court races

The race for five seats on the Oakland County Circuit bench has been the most contentious in recent memory -- perhaps ever.

Incumbent judges are typically re-elected easily. However, an influx of mysterious money has created a couple of threats to knock off current judges Leo Bowman, Phyllis McMillen, Denise Langford Morris, Wendy Potts and Michael Warren.

On the ballot, those judges will have "Judge of the Circuit Court" listed under their names, while challengers Deborah Carley and William Rollstin will have no distinction.

That designation is typically enough to guarantee victory for the incumbents, but Carley and Rollstin -- along with the help of more than $2 million in campaign money, according to the incumbents -- are attempting to win two of the seats.

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"Debbie Carley and William Rollstin are hiding behind one of the most negative, deceitful campaigns in the history of the Oakland County Circuit Court," said Jennifer Murray, spokeswoman for the incumbent judges, who are running as the Unity Slate.

"Somebody paid to put Carley and Rollstin on the ballot and then poured millions of dollars into the race on their behalf. It's only logical to expect that this unidentified person or persons will expect something from Carley and Rollstin in return. Oakland County residents don't want judges on their bench that are bought and paid for by anonymous, out-of-state donors."

Carley and Rollstin deny any knowledge of where the money's coming from and accuse the incumbent judges' campaigns of being funded mostly by donations from lawyers who appear in their courtrooms.

"These judges have found 99 percent of their funding from the lawyers that practice in front of them," Rollstin said.

"Do you want to be a lawyer in front of that judge, having not contributed, when an opposing lawyer has?"

The 99 percent figure appears to be an exaggeration, but campaign finance reports do show that some lawyers have contributed to the incumbent's campaigns. Campaign finance disclosure reports are available at the Michigan Secretary of State website.

"Everybody's been focusing on the concept that somebody is trying to buy a seat on the Oakland County Circuit Court bench, but I think the more disturbing question is whether or not this is an attempt to buy influence in the attorney general's office," McMillen said.

"Even if they lose, these candidates are going to continue to be assistant attorneys general, and that certainly puts them in a position to inquire as to where the money was going to come from to be able to run their campaigns," McMillen said.

"They have an obligation to disclose that to the public."

McMillen has been the target of an attack ad, funded by the Political Action Committee Americans for Job Security.

"Would you give probation to a repeat sex offender convicted of two counts of rape? Oakland County Circuit Judge Phyllis McMillen did," the ad states.

The ad does not refer to a specific case, but under the ad on the Super PAC's website, a case involving Eddie Stephens is referenced.

Court records show McMillen sentenced Stephens to 46 months to 15 years in the Department of Corrections on a breaking and entering conviction. She was not the judge for either of his criminal sexual conduct convictions -- both of which occurred in Wayne County Circuit Court in the early 1980s.

"It was a total surprise when I saw the ad," McMillen said.

"The first thing I did, of course, was to go and look up the case to see if the ad was factual, and in fact, it wasn't. It implies I put a sex offender on probation, and really the guy was arrested on a breaking and entering.

"The recommendation from the Department of Corrections was that he do a year in jail. I gave him the year in jail, and then I added that he do three months in a drug rehabilitation center because he clearly had a drug addiction problem. Then I added on the three years of probation to the year of jail, so it's really inaccurate in its portrayal."

McMillen said the group supporting the challengers has spent more than $2 million on ads.

"It's anticipated that when you add in the mailings that were done -- all of this by undisclosed organizations -- that there's never been anything like it, ever," she said.

Murray condemned the ads.

"The TV ads their campaign supporters are running are false and run out of desperation because Carley and Rollstin have failed to honestly explain to voters why they should replace any of our five award-winning judges," she said.

"This type of dishonest campaign tactic reflects on the integrity of the candidates and voters should take into account their willingness to participate in this type of deception just to win a seat on the Circuit Court."

Carley and Rollstin say they have no idea who's putting the money up for the ads.

"I really know the same that you know by watching them," Carley said.

"The ads are not being paid for by my campaign. They're being paid for by a PAC, and we don't know who that is. It's an entirely legal thing to do. The law allows for it and I'm appreciative of the assistance.

"Apparently they believe in me and I'm very grateful for that."

Rollstin was also pleased with the support.

"I don't know (who is behind the ads)," he said. "I know that's been a big question. I don't know who's behind it. I'm happy to have their support."

Voters have seen Carley and Rollstin all over the television, but likely not in person, as neither appears to be doing any campaigning in the area.

There's a good reason for that, says Carley.

"During the election cycle, you have seen -- and there's been a lot of discussion -- that I have not done things," she said.

"That is because I'm working. Citizens are paying for these judges to campaign all day, every day, instead of working."

Rollstin agreed that the schedule makes campaigning difficult.

"It's tough for me, and I know Deb's the same way," he said.

"We're not doing anything but work. We've done a lot of campaigning -- we just haven't done a lot of campaigning during the day. We've been to every farmer's market, every festival, every county fair and every parade since last April."

Rollstin accuses the sitting judges of failing to work hard.

"I'll work hard all day like I've done the last 25 years," Rollstin said. "That's not going on out there right now."

Carley said it's time that someone break a century-long streak of wins by incumbent judges.

"People from the county say nobody has run against these incumbent judges and won for 100 years," Carley said, noting that all five incumbents were at one time appointed to the Circuit Court.

"That's a long time. I think it's time the judges are elected by the people who they serve."

Carley herself has been the target of an attack ad. While working with the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, she was a prosecutor on a case charging Julian Wendrow with sexual abuse against his autistic daughter, who is unable to speak.

Wendrow's daughter used a service called facilitated communication -- where an assistant guide's the participant's hand to type a message -- to write that her father abused her. The service was determined to be unreliable in court and the case was thrown out.

An ad detailing the case states "DEBORAH CARLEY: INTERESTED IN HER POLITICAL AMBITION, NOT IN YOUR FAMILY."

"With all facts showing there had been no abuse, Carley and her team pressed on with this now high-profile case in an attempt to send the father to prison for the rest of his life, to terminate all parental rights, and put the children in the foster care system," the ad states.

David Gorcyca, who was Oakland County Prosecutor at the time, was responsible for the prosecution "as the elected official for every case that came out of the office," Carley said.

"I have been dismissed from the lawsuit (regarding the Wendrow case) and I really won't dignify any further response with that."

Carley said she and Rollstin have similar beliefs.

"We both work for the attorney general and were both rule of law judges and were prosecutors," she said.

The other incumbent judges do not appear to be the main targets of attack ads, but they could still suffer the consequences.

They've heard rumors, but they don't know where the money is coming from.

"I have no idea," Langford Morris said.

"I've heard the same rumors (everyone else has). I think that definitely is a general concern for the community, because this is unprecedented. We have not seen anything like this in a local race. Obviously, being in Oakland County, I've seen races where money was spent countywide ... but this is highly unusually that this kind of money is expended in a circuit court race.

"I think it's important that you have transparency because of what it is that we do."

Potts said it's been a stressful campaign.

"It's been a very long process and it's required a lot of work," she said.

"It's different for a circuit court race. It would have been really helpful to have more dialogue about the issues with the people that are running and to really discuss what thoughts they have about the court and how the system could be improved."

All of the incumbent judges agree that the Oakland County Circuit Court is efficient and forward-looking.

"As far as I can tell, (the challengers) are the only people that claim there is a crisis in the Oakland County Circuit Court," Warren said.

"We are held up as the model of excellence in court administration and the administration of justice, not just in the state of Michigan, but across the country."

Warren said he was the first judge with a mandatory e-filing docket -- a requirement that the entire Circuit Court now has.

"It saves time, money and energy and increases our productivity substantially," he said.

In response to a question from the League of Women Voters, Bowman described his wide breadth of judicial experience.

"I have presided over everything from first-degree murder trials to trials to determine the water rights of home owners living on lake property. I believe my breadth of judicial experience coupled with my diligence in timely administering the law combine to warrant my re-election as judge of the Oakland County Circuit Court."

It's experience that makes the case for the incumbents, Langford Morris said.

"The five of us are extremely experienced," Langford Morris said. "We don't need a lot of supervision.

"One of the difficulties is we want to ensure these people have the kind of experience to handle the docket, civil and criminal. I believe that all of us (incumbents) are civil and criminal judges."